Counter construction



Feb. 7, 1933. MEYER 1,896,524

COUNTER CONSTRUCTION 1 Filed June 28, 1950 INVENTOR.

Rerr fieje? A T TOREEY Patented Feb. 7 1933 PIERRE-H. 1mm NEW YORK, N. Y;

'ooom'nn oonsrmica'rox Application fled June 88;;1930. Serial Io. 484,457.

This invention relates to dis lay counters used for displaying merchandise and particularly to the arrangement of shams upon such counters and the manner of supporting 5 partition members in connection with .such shams; and the object of: the invention is to provide an improved sham construction -for counters, in conjunction with which is employed an improved supporting clip, the

structure of the sham and clip being such as to rovide for a quick, simple and practical ad ustment of the partition walls with re spect to the sham to form articlereceiving compartments of varying sizes; a further object being to provide a partition supporting clip, which in addition to its universal adjustability with respect to the sham, is pro-' vided with means for tensionally engaging the partition to prevent rattling or other 0 movement thereof as well as to provide a resilient support preventing breakage of the partition when subject to undue shock; a further object being to provide means whereby the partition supporting clips may be frictionally as well as permanently held against displacement with respect to the sham; and with these and other objects in View, the invention consists in a device of the class and for the purpose specified, which 0 is simple in construction, eflicient in use, and which is constructed as hereinafter described and claimed. 1

The invention is fully disclosed in the following s cification, of which the accompanying rawing forms a part,-in which the separate parts of my improvement are designated by suitable reference character-sin each of the views, and in which 2-- Fig. 1 is a perspective, sectional view of a portion of a counter, indicating an arrangement of my improved sham and partition support thereon.

Fig. 2 is a sectional, detail view of a part of the construction shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3' is a perspective view of a partition supporting clip, detached; and,

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 2, showing a modification. v

In Fig. 1 of the drawing, I have shown at 5, the top table member of a display counter,

and at 6, the front finishing strip or board,

the upper edge of which projects well above the top of the counter, it being understood that, the rear side as well as the ends of the counter are provided with similar boards. Heretofore, it has been customary to place shams or supplemental counter boards upon the table 5 of the counter and to arrange the same in spaced-relation thereto for supportmg articles to be placed on display and to provide partition walls, preferably in the form of glass strips disposed between the shams, and clips attached to the transverse partition walls or to the shams for supporting other partition walls arranged at right angles to the first named walls, a relatively tall glass front wall 6a, also being preferably employed.

In carrying my invention into effect, I provlde shams 7 which preferably extend from one wall 6 of a counter to an opposed wall in the form of elongated members which may be of different widths. Placed between the shams are partition walls 8, preferably of glass, the upper ends of which project well above the top of the sham 7. In practice, opposed side edges of the sham 7 are fashioned to form longitudinal grooves 9 which are arranged below the facings 10, usually provided on the upper as well as side edges of the sham. These facings are usually composed of a suitable, dark fabric, but may be of any desired material, depending upon the character of the articles to be placed on display. These facings are glued or otherwise fixed to the sham board 7 I also employ partition supporting clips 11, preferably stamped from sheet material, one end of the sheet being folded u on itself to form an angularly disposed ange 12 which is adapted to fit snugly in the groove 9 and to slide longitudinally of said groove in adjusting the position of the clip. The flange 12 is comparatively wide, and in the construction shown in Fig. 2, extends at right angles to a plate 13, which has a central aperture 14, so that'a tack or nail may be used to definitely position the clip on the sham, but it is not absolutely necessary that this securing means be employed. However, it 100 Centrally of the upper edge of the plate ,I

13 is an upstanding clip b0 y 16, which is U-shaped in cross sectional form, the crosshead of said body being cut out to form a downwardly and mwardly extending spring 17. The side walls 18 are curved ad acent the crosshead as seen at 19 to (give spring tension thereto, and the upper e ges of 0.1

walls preferably flare outwardly as-seen at 20, note Fig. 3 of the drawing. The walls 18 also normally converge toward each other so as to spring outwardly in the operation of placing a partition wall 21, such as shown in Fig. 1 of the drawing, therein. The spring tension of the side walls 18 serves to resiliently support the partition 21 against rattling or movement with respect thereto. The springs 17 also accomplish this result and prevent rattling movement of the partition with respect to a pair of said clips in which the same is supported, it being understood that one clip is arranged at each side of the sham in opposed relation, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 1 of the drawing.

With my improved construction, it will be apparent that the clips 11 may be readily adjusted longitudinally with respect to the sham to quickly provide compartments within and between the partition walls of such size as to suit the articles of merchandise to be placed on display, thus saving a great amount of labor in the construction of a large number of display compartments upon a counter.

In Fig. 4 of the drawing, I have shown a slight modification, which consists simply in cutting grooves 9a in an upwardly inclined position in the side edges of the sham 7, and providing the clips 11 with flanges 12a disposed at an acute angle with respect to the plate 13, to conform with the angular arrangement of the grooves 9a. With a construction of this type, the same adjustable characteristics are provided, and at the same time, the clips will be held against accidental displacement from the shams, when the shams are detached from the counter for rearrangement of the counter display for cleaning the shams and other purposes. It is understood that the attachment and detachment of the clips with respect to the sham as shown in Fig. 4, is possible only through the open ends of the grooves, although it would be possible to spring the clips into position from the sides of the shams.

It will be understood that while I have shown certain details of construction for carrying my invention into eflect, that I am not necessarily limited to these details, and various changes in and modifications of the construction herein shown and described may be made within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from the spirit of my invention or sacrificing its advantages.

Having fully described my invention, what claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. A device of the class described comprising a plate a flange extending angularly from one end of the plate, a U-shaped body disposed at the other end of the plate and comprising a crosshead in alinement with the plate and side walls projectin angularly therefrom, the side walls of sai body being set inwardly adjacent-the crosshead thereof to increase the spring properties of said side walls, the side walls of said body converging from said crosshead to the free edges thereof and being adapted to be flexed laterally, and the upper edges of the side walls of said body flaring outwardly.

2. A device of the class described comprising a plate, a flange extending angularly from one end of the plate, a U-shaped body disposed at the other end of the plate and comprising a crosshead in alinement with the plate and side walls projecting angularly therefrom, the side Walls of said body being set inwardly adjacent the crosshead thereof to increase the spring properties of said side walls, the side walls of said body converging from said crosshead to the free edges thereof and being adapted to be flexed laterally, the upper edges of the side walls of said body flaring outwardly, and a spring tongue out and pressed from the material of the crosshead of said body and arran ed within and between the side walls thereof? 3. In a counter construction of the class described, a sham having a groove arranged longitudinally of one side edge thereof, a partition supporting clip, the lower end of which is provided with a flange arranged in the groove of the sham for adjustable movement longitudinally of the sham, said clip having a U-shaped spring portionconsistingof acrossh'ead andsidewallsdisposed above the top of the sham into which the partition member is placed, the side walls of said U-shaped portion converging to their free edges and having spring properties to tensionally engage said partition member, and the crosshead of said U-shaped portion having an inwardly extending spring adapted to engage the end of the partition member.

4. In a counter constuction of the class described, a sham having a groove arranged longitudially of one side edge thereof, a partition supporting clip, the lower end of which is provided with a flange arranged in the groove of the sham for adjustable movement longitudinally of the sham, said clip having a U-shaped spring portion consisting of a crosshead and side walls disposed above the top of the sham into which the artition member is placed, the side walls said U- shaped portion converging to their free edges and having spring properties to tensiona 1y 5 engage said partition member, the crosshea'd of said U-shaped portion having an inwardly extending spring adapted to engage the end of the partition member, and means at the side edges of said cli below the U-shaped portion for retaining t e same against movement relatively to said sham.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I have signed my name this 23rd day of June 1930.

PIERRE H. MEYER. 

